Solid sports weekend in the Hyde household

September 9, 2013 - Andy Heintz

September is one of my favorite sports months. The Major League Baseball season is winding down and my Cincinnati Reds are usually in the middle of a pennant race. And football is back.

I was about to give up on the Reds two weeks ago. The team looked flat and did not seem to be playing like a championship club. Then they took three of four from the first-place Cardinals and sweep the National League-West leading Dodgers in Cincinnati.

The Reds are in top two in pitching earned run average and are getting some big offensive production from its key players. And now the speedster Billy Hamilton has been called up to change the game. And he has done just that pinch running four times late in the close games, stealing four bases and scoring three game-winning runs.

It’s hard not to get excited about the Big Red Machine but just when I get excited things turn around and go the other way. So, I am just going to see how this shakes out.

The Reds tied Pittsburgh Sunday for the top spot in the wild card and sit just 1.5 games out of first place. What I do know is that if the Reds have to play on the road in the one-game playoff, they likely won’t go any further. They are so much better at home than they are on the road this year.

The San Francisco 49ers is my NFL team. And I couldn’t have been happier with their first-game performance today.

They took on another Super Bowl contender and came out on top by six.

It was a controversial game from many standpoints.

Forty-Niners head coach Jim Harbaugh claimed Green Bay linebacker Clay Matthews was possibly “targeting” San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick because of some comments Matthews made to the media.

And then when Matthews left his feet and hit Kaepernick five yards out of bounds in the first half, it made it look even more suspicious.

The officials made some bad calls against both teams in this game and that will get talked about but the essentially controlled the game from the opening kickoff and deserved to win.

I am sure Niner Nation will see the Pack again. And I can’t wait.

The Hawkeyes are 1-1 and not playing well. Not sure if things can get turned around under Kirk Ferentz anymore.

I just hope they can find a way to beat Iowa State on Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium.

My nine-month-old daughter Aubrey got to see her daddy for the first time during football season this weekend.

I was in Iowa City for the Hawkeye game Saturday because the family had a wedding to attend to. I was able to watch the game at the house and both Aubrey and I were decked out in our black and gold. She wasn’t sure what to think when I started yelling at the TV.

Then, Sunday came and things got worse.

But she survived and “our teams” came out with 2-0 records. And the Reds swept the Dodgers in Cincinnati so it was a great sports weekend in the Hyde household.

Better not get used to it. Next week could be much different with Iowa traveling to Iowa State and San Francisco heading to Seattle to face the Seahawks and that 12th man.